Florida teen beats friend to death with baseball bat over girl

Posted: 2:30 PM, March 20, 2018Updated: 2:30 PM, March 20, 2018

LAKE WALES, Fla. (AP) - A Florida sheriff says a 16-year-old boy who apparently was jealous that another teen was in a relationship with a girl he liked, invited the boy to smoke marijuana in the woods before bludgeoning him to death with a baseball bat.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a news conference Tuesday that the teen beat 15-year-old Giovanni Diaz in the face and head Monday afternoon. Judd says the teen then ran into a witness, asking what he should do. The witness told him to call 911, which he did.

Judd says the teen told deputies he hit the boy in self-defense before finally confessing to the crime.

The teen has three previous battery charges, two of which were on Diaz.

He faces charges of first-degree murder and marijuana possession. It was not clear if he had a lawyer.

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Information from: WFLA-TV, http://www.wfla.com/

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